B2R Shoulder Stability Project. The Rings.
Two wooden rings, two straps, a lifetime of self discipline and craft. Gymnastic rings are one of the most versatile, low cost, low access tools for developing strength.
Please watch the following video prior to commencing training on the rings. You would be well advised to save and review the content.
*Video shared with permission from ShapeShifters Den
You can expect all of the movements described in the above video to be included in this B2R shoulder stability project. This programme will be challenging your shoulder stability through all the directions a healthy shoulder should move. To orient ourselves with those movements, please watch the next video.
Shoulder blade terminology orientation. Protraction, retraction, elevation and depression will need to be implicitly understood before going into ring training.
Ring training for many of us will be something we have either dabbled with a little, or completely new. There is great variation in the time it takes for different people to progress, and how much training indeed it takes to drive adaptation. For these reasons this shoulder stability project will have different entry and exit points for different people. The format of the programme will be to learn a block training method (which will vary between individuals, anything up to 10-12 weeks for some), we will be using 6 weeks. Truly emergent strategies can only be applied for an individual. Our hope is to instil an understanding of a training block that you can either extend, cut short or re-run until you hit our programmed pre-requisites for progression.
NERD LINK
For an in-depth discussion on emerging strategies, see this presentation by Mike Tuchscherer.
We have travelled far and wide searching for teachers within health and fitness. With regards to ring training we pay tribute to Gymnastic Bodies, Gold Medal Bodies (GMB) Movement Culture and The Phoenix Movement (TPM) in particular.
Luke learning forward roll on the rings for the first time last year (Oct 2019) in CrossFit Torian, Brisbane, Australia with coach Darin of The Phoenix Movement.
We appreciate it is a paradigm shift moving from more conventional strength training methods (body building, barbell strength and conditioning - S&C). Gymnastic strength training is extremely liberating in that we can train anywhere, anytime and get jacked, especially with ring training. Many people struggle with the mindset shift, the nature of which will lead you to become well acquainted with failing as the rings move. On a machine we are guided through a pre determined range of movement that does not require us to stabilise like the rings do - and is one proposed reason that gymnasts tend to build very strong upper bodies (see link above where Tyson Edwards outlines his witty thoughts on the matter).
“You will need to become well acquainted with failing, this is key to success”
This is after all, a shoulder stability programme, we have seen nothing that demands stability quite like ring training.
Once we can make failure and repetition our friend, the pursuit of achieving something you currently cant do can be highly reinforcing and ultimately help motivate us when training would otherwise be easy to “do tomorrow”. We are passionate and vocal about exercise adherence.
NERD LINK
Paul McCambridge, B2R Director presenting in Oxford all the research surrounding ‘Active Self-Management’ and physical activity.
In 5 years, would you like to be able to put more weight onto a bench press, or squat (these are also great goals), or be able to do your first pull up? or muscle up? or one-arm chin? or iron cross…..the training method is different and this is what we hope to set you on the path towards in this programme. My gymnastic strength training coach Darin often leads into his classes with a metaphor of climbing a mountain. You keep failing, and clambering through the valleys and one day you summit, you hit the peak and get your first pull up, or 10 second handstand. Then you return to the valleys in search of another peak in the distance (30 second handstand, or muscle up or [insert skill you cant do] and the love-hate process of turning up and failing well starts all over again.
The squiggle is training, its business, its relationships, it’s life. Training in the squiggle (fails, set backs) can help us become more adaptable as people. People who embrace and fail well are the ones who experience success.
Gymnastic Strength Training. Jackie Smith, 64 came to us 2 years ago with long term persistent shoulder pain. A comprehensive B2R rehabilitation programme includes regular resistance training, so that we return to play (life) more resilient than prior. Jackie is stronger, leaner and has more zest for life at 64 than she did at 62, she inspires us everyday. Also shown is some of the grind behind getting to that first summit (chin). Thank you jackie. Next stop is muscle up before 66! (next summit)
B2R clinician Samantha Ogilvie achieving her first strict chin (x2). A great achievement for her hard work which also started out as a long term shoulder pain.
Gymnastic Strength Training. It is not uncommon, when you understand the training method and put in the hard work to fail over and over, then one day the penny drops and your work accumulates for your nervous system to acquire the skill, or summit the mountain. Jacob Baylis, B2R photographer and trainer suprising himself, the joy worth the journey.
The structure of this ring programme will be to support you towards your first pull up, muscle-up or ring flow if you combine several components. However to pass from level A programming to level B there will be pre requisite testing where we must demonstrate 5 chest to bar / ring pull ups with full elbow lockout and 5 ring dips with good form. It is not failure in this programme if you do not graduate to level B within your first pass. It all depends on your starting point and how much time and consistency you can put into your training. Hence our format will be learning to train in block format that you re run until ready to progress. The video of Callie below took her 6 months from where she was to demonstrate pre-requisite pulling strength. It takes as long as it takes but we must learn the process and put some faith (and elbow grease!) into it.
Gymnastic Strength Training. Callie Hammond demonstrating 5 continuous reps chest to bar and full elbow lock out. Meeting pre-requisites demonstrates that we have effected our connective tissue enough to expose to higher levels of challenge. Enter level B.
B2R clinician Sam Ogilvie demonstrating consecutive ring dips with RTO. This was so far out of her envelope of function when she started. Persistence and trust in the process and here she demonstrates one of the pre requisites for graduating to Muscle Up B. It takes as long as it takes to impact your connective tissue, you will graduate when you are ready.
Gymnastic Strength Training. Having a spot through new movements is very helpful in physical strength skill aquisition. Repetition and consistency are also paramount, whether you have a gym, or live on the road, gymnastic rings ensure a consistency to your strength training, as shown by Jackie, 64, training at home through COVID-19 lockdown.
I can’t hold myself above the rings, never mind 5 dips. Is this project too difficult for me
The first 4 weeks of this project will be a ‘familiarisation’ phase. You will get the workouts and navigate all the options provided and have to have a play to find where you are at. To progress however we will need to be able to have success within the levels and rep ranges provided. If, the ring training is currently out of your ‘envelope’ then foundation pressing (for example) on more stable surface are provided.
Strict push up form is consistently humbling for the ego. Maintaining body alignment is very challenging, this may be where we train if we cannot achieve any success on ring dips.
This programme will be intense, however intensity does not come at a cost of form. If we have to regress to lower pushing tasks then we do so and build up with the form required for greater challenges down the road. Many people train a kneeling pushup in a suboptimal way, one that breaks body line tension. Maybe a strict push up is what you will get from this programme, be proud, open yourself up for success.
IMPORTANT
Ring training builds phenomenal upper body strength, however if you are starting out, we must respect tissue adaptation times. Loading all the stabilising tissues (ligament, tendon, joint capsule…) in your shoulders (+elbows / wrists) takes longer than simply training muscle. While this process takes longer, it is arguably more fruitful as we build resilience in not just our muscles, but our joints and this we feel sets gymnastic strength training apart from other training in terms of shoulder (+elbow / wrists) stability. Please see the video below for an introduction (or review) of a metaphor we use for guiding our load management; Envelope of Function.
Reflect on the concept introduced in the video and consider applying it to yourself. When did you last hang for any extended duration? Have you ever hung? Never mind hanging from something that moves. Is your EoF for hanging big or small? This can be zoned in further, is your EoF for shoulder mobility overhead big or small? Your grip strength? your ability to hold yourself still above the rings? How about the skin (callus) on your hands, this has an EoF and will likely become the most readily visible evidence to you of the amazing adaptability that will be going on in your body. Many students of ours become frustrated that hand pain (or tears) holds their training back. This will increasingly become a factor if you have never done false grip before.
False grip is uncomfortable and can take some getting used to. This is essential however in transitioning from below to above rings.
Callus on Lukes hands, clear evidence of expansion of envelope of function of skin for friction across the base of the fingers, and the bottom left of palm (False grip).
It is not unusual to tare the skin on your hands and it affects some more than others. This was actually in the filming of this project, a sudden increase in the amount of false grip I was conditioned too. If you start to feel an abrasion in your hands, you know you are locked in the right place, but also must know when to stop. This tare required me to leave false grip for over a week. You can still train around this, however it is frustrating and can be prevented with diligent practice. Some lessons must be learned however. It won’t be my last tare or bruise no doubt.
False grip hold at 90 degrees.
A more challenging false grip progression - type writers
More challenging transitions below to above the rings become available with a conditioned false grip - German hang to dip.
False grip will be added to horizontal pulling and we build up from where we are at.
Ring support. We are training shoulder depression more comprehensively in our hang block work. However this is also scapula depression training, but with the arms by the side. The rings place a great stress on the bicep in this ‘turned out’ position and this should only be attempted if we can maintain locked whole body tension (posterior pelvic tilt), scapula depression and elbows locked into extension.
Once we have grasp of the concept of EoF, it helps us see where skills, or progressions of difficulty will sit in terms of our EoF. Maybe a muscle-up seems way beyond you now, but a pull up is just outside of your ability. By pitching our training at our threshold that we can perform with solid form, the plan is that we pull tasks from outside our current capacity (EoF), to within. It is worth mentioning here also that training can exceed our EoF in a cumulative way. This manifests as an inability to recover between sessions and is also known as an ‘overtrained state’. Overtraining is often misinterpreted as an amount of training (X sets X reps X days of the week for X months). One persons ‘overtraining’ volume could be another persons warm up. See this article by Scott Abel for more details on smart training, as nothing holds your progress back more than a repetitive strain injury - RSI (a very common symptom of not recovering, in particular in the medial / lateral elbow, wrist and rotator cuff).
“Micro-level overtraining is indicated by all the “itises.” Tendonitis, bursitis, tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, jumper’s knee, can all be experienced by weight training athletes, and are indicators of overstress to a certain muscle or neurological pathway.”
This graph shows the weight distribution (sway) of someone with a movement disorder (Parkinsons - red trace), and someone without a movement disorder (healthy - blue trace) trying to stand still on a force platform. What this research by Van Emmerik illustrates is that healthy movement is highly variable, whereas the much smaller movement trace of the movement disorder demonstrates a loss in variability (you may be familiar with Parkinsons disease and an increased risk of falling). Connect this concept of lacking movement variability and over stressing a particular neurological pathway or tissue and we have a mechanism for a repetitive strain injury (RSI). The nature of this programme will place a lot of stress on the forearm, elbow and indeed shoulder. The balance between medicine and poison is the dose, which we need to figure out as we go. Appreciating our envelope of function as a concept should help us pitch how we train. For more depth on acute : chronic workload the reader is directed to key research HERE and HERE.
In this programme there will be levels of progressions and rep ranges that will be relatively low or high intensity for different people. You will have to learn to auto regulate and listen to your body and your recovery state for when you go hard and when you reduce intensity, or at some point, totally shift up your training focus and move on to other things. This is also a healthy mindset and one we support. You will be invited to a group call each week where Luke will go through common things going well, not so well and help you navigate your programming. This programme will be very intense for most of us with daily work requirements so best advice is to shoot for the ‘minimal effective dose’, find the level of progression you can complete the minimum sets and reps.
Rest periods can be highly variable between people, guidance will be offered however if you need longer to keep the ‘skill component’ of your training up then it is important you do so, this will be a journey of learning how this programme will suit you best.
TRANSITION
It is not uncommon for someone to be able to do 10 pull ups and 10 dips but still not be able to perform strict muscle ups (no momentum). This is due to the transition which is an unusual position to be strong in without specific strength training. This is a consistent barrier so this will be your reference point for how we overcome this. We will be using blocks of time and repetition (greasing the groove some call it).
The rings must remain in contact with us at all times, it is this end range strength most will be missing. Our thumbs trace our chest as we transition from false grip below, to the bottom position of a dip. We use as much assistance with our feet as required to execute this movement. The rings should not move much (they will rotate, however when unassisted the rings will move very little. The goal of this drill is to work for the programmed periods of time gathering as much repetitions as we can, force our bodies to learn the movement. When we are able to, we start to reduce the weight in our feet. If working for a 60s set then you will start with as little weight in feet as you can, adding more as you tire so you can continue cranking transitions out. Even at this level this drill will hurt all over.
Transition sets - Assisted.
There will be enormous progress in anyone who accurately perseveres with assisted transition sets for an 8 week training block. A useful self check for position is to use partially assisted reps, in the end range of each repetition lift (not jump) the legs for a moment before returning to your next rep. If you are currently rooted into the rings you should not swing when you release the feet.
Transition sets, partially assisted.
Overtime, working as hard as you can through assisted reps, you can test to see if you can execute unassisted transition sets. It may be that you can start off initially getting one unassisted before returning your feet to the floor (set up height needs to be figured out correctly for you) to complete sets for time, adding assistance through feet as necessary. With time 1 becomes 2, 3 until you can complete the duration at that level. You will also be able to do a muscle up by this point as the transition is what hold most people back.
Transition sets, unassisted.
When training your transition sets, you can lock a level in and maintain for time, or work through regressions from your highest level down as required, both of these options are effective. We have also included some alternatives that could be inserted in just the same way.
Incline row transition sets
Elevated hinge transition sets. A strong elevated false grip horizontal pull is required to train these, however this is a great way to smooth out muscle up transition.
Once we are at the point we are able to train consecutive ring muscle ups, we will be working on forward rolls as a progression from transition sets. These are a skill in and of themselves, which will also be trained for time. A strong false grip, awareness of a smooth transition from pushing to pulling whilst maintaining a tight pike position.
Linked forward rolls. These are included as skill in and of them selves as a progression from transition sets in Muscle Up B for those who are training linked muscle ups.
“The basis of the ring component of this programme means that some people will leave with their first pull up, first muscle up, first forward roll or ring flow, or something in between. At the very least, you will understand how you are going to get these. ”
If you are new to training (<1 year regular resistance training), then it will be very unlikely you will be able to tax your nervous system enough to need set ‘de-loads’ or rest periods. Varying how ‘hard’ you train and listening to your recovery will suffice.
If you have more than a year of regular strength training, and know how to train yourself at a high intensity, then smart training becomes much more important as ‘overtraining’ will really hold you back. This is generally where I sit on the continuum as I find de-loads difficult to see through (Don’t want to lose GAINZ! Going hard consistently all the time out of a perceived necessity is flawed thinking however. See useful link). This is a FAR better option however than being forced to stop through an RSI. For these reasons I have chosen a 6 week block as a guideline, you may need longer before you need to take a well earned rest.
“Macro / systemic signs of overtraining include;
• Downward-spiraling muscle strength
• Increased fatigue away from training
• Restlessness
• Long sleep requirements
• Lack of motivation and desire
• Arthritic-like pain and symptoms
• Irritability
• Low attention span.”
Study the videos, if your form is poor then the difficulty is too hard and the risk of injury is increased - use this as a marker for training with solid form and mastering the level that you are at to the upper end of sets and reps range in true coach. It is likely that some of these movements are going to be new to you, consistency and repetition will be essential for you to get the most out of this programme and take with you beyond into your future.
“Train with good form, based on the videos and coaching feedback and start with the minimum effective dose, the lower end of progression, reps and sets provided.”
See you on the rings
Luke R. Davies,
#B2Rhealth
“I started working on the rings with Luke as a continuation of my shoulder conditioning work. In my early 60s, I had never worked with rings before, and didn’t know what to expect, so I was surprised that although the work is very challenging, it is fun and motivational. There is something almost childlike in the pleasure you get hanging upside down in mid air. You master one level and then there is the next level to move onto, so you’re always developing and improving. My shoulder condition has improved significantly, as well as shoulder strength because much of the work is full bodyweight. Also you don’t need to be in the gym to use them, which was a real plus during the recent lockdown. ”
Jackie, telling her story to the final year Chiropractic clinicians in the University of South Wales where we run the rehabilitation curriculum - her transition from pain to regular consistent strength work including gymnastic rings, handstand and hang work / play.
USEFUL LINK
Gymnastic rings come in several forms (wooden, plastic, strap variations, size of ring….). Here is a wooden gymnastic ring with numbered straps and an option for 1.1 inch or 1.3 inch rings. I personally use a 1.1 ring and this has lasted me 5 years.